With the help of the A.I. Chip's holographic vision, Grimm could vaguely sense the abnormality in the forest demon's abdomen.
In the battle just now, the forest demon had indeed appeared weak and timid.
Grimm had originally thought that this was her nature, but now he knew that she was trying to protect the 'fetus' in her womb and did not dare to be as forceful as she usually was.
Looking at the black cat in his hands, then at the furious forest demon and the despondent Gargamel, Grimm could not make up his mind.
Should he kill them all, or use the black cat to force them to serve him for a period of time?
After hesitating for a moment, Grimm made up his mind.
"Serve me for 30 years, and I'll let you go!"
The forest demon's eyes lit up, and she was about to agree, but Gargamel stopped her.
"How can we trust that you won't go back on your word?"
As a Magus, Gargamel was well aware of the greed and treachery of other Magi. Even he himself was such a person.
"We can sign a fair and reasonable service contract. With the restrictions of the contract, you should believe us, right?" Grimm smiled coldly, "You'd better make up your mind quickly. If I find out that you're trying to stall for time, heh heh … "
Gargamel's heart sank when he heard the threat, but he still insisted, "We can serve you for 30 years, but you can't have any ideas about our child …"
Hiding behind Gargamel, the Forest Demon Ava had only just considered this problem and immediately stared at Grimm with a face full of fear.
Grimm smacked his lips in regret.
In truth, he was quite curious about a 'little life' born from a Magus and a magical creature!
However, for the sake of a long-term future, Grimm could only reluctantly part with it.
Grimm did not intend to stay in the Salubo family forever. When the time was right, he would raise his own banner and leave the Salubo family. In order to achieve this, he needed to have a group of subordinates that would listen to his orders.
It was for this vague ideal that Grimm had tried his best to befriend Mary and Alice in order to pull them into his camp. Although Meryl showed signs of leaning towards him, she was still a Magus of the Salubo family. Once he left the family, it was unknown whether she would still be willing to follow him.
After all, one side was a middle-ranked Sorcerer family with some reputation in the scattered Tallinn region, while the other side was a fledgling family with two or three small soldiers. Comparing the two, it was obvious which side could provide her with more resources and more power.
Therefore, Grim did not have the confidence to drag Meryl away.
Grimm wasn't even confident that he could pull Mary, who was in another world, into his camp. To be honest, the only one who was willing to join Grim's faction was Alice, who was far away in the North.
Based on this analysis, Grimm's faction was still too weak and weak. If Gargamel and Forest Demon could join them, even if they were half-hearted, they would still be of great help to Grimm's future plans.
With this in mind, Grimm could only regretfully give up on that 'little life'!
Grimm held the black cat in one hand and drew a line in the air with the other. It did not take him much effort to draw up a fair, just and open Sorcery Contract. Apart from specifying the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of both parties, there were no discriminatory or oppressive terms. It was so relaxed that it was similar to a contract between equal partners.
This undoubtedly caused Gargamel and Ava to look at each other in dismay, not daring to believe their eyes.
After studying the contract for a long time and confirming that there were no deceptive methods or hidden terms, and that there were no misleading language traps, Gargamel and Ava reluctantly merged their soul imprints into it.
After the contract was established, the words written with flame runes slowly dissipated into the air. The three of them could vaguely feel the subtle changes in their souls.
There was no god of contracts in the Magus World, and Magi would not pledge their loyalty to any god. Therefore, the witnesses of most contracts were the great and just World Will. As long as it was in the Magus World, anyone who violated a contract was bound to be spurned and devoured by the World Will.
This was a punishment that no Magus would be willing to bear!
Grimm opened his hand and released the black cat's shackles. His entire body also began to shrink under the violent tremors of the fire elements. Since they were no longer enemies, there was no need to maintain the Flame Demon form. After all, the fire energy spewed out from the Flame Demon's Heart was a heavy burden to Grimm's body!
The moment the black cat broke free from its shackles, it flashed to Gargamel's feet and dove into the shadows, never to show itself again.
Gargamel hesitated for a moment, and an awkward expression appeared on his gloomy face. He bowed and said in a low voice, "Master, why have you come to the Black Forest this time?"
The forest demon Ai Wa also revealed a curious expression.
To be honest, someone like Grimm who had the strength of an elite Magus when he went berserk did not look like someone who would need to go out and search for materials. Therefore, the two of them could not help but be curious about Grimm's goal.
Due to the contract, Grimm's trust in them far exceeded that of anyone else. Thus, when faced with Gargamel's questions, he did not hide it anymore.
"I've used some covert methods to find out that there is an underground volcano in the Black Forest that can be used. The approximate location is … Do you have any clues about this?"
Gargamel did not have any clues, so the two of them could only turn to look at the forest demon Ava.
She was a forest monster that had wandered the Black Forest for a hundred years. Thus, she was familiar with the situation everywhere. Asking her for directions was undoubtedly the most appropriate thing to do.
As expected, the forest demon Ava immediately revealed a pondering and hesitant expression.
"The coordinates you mentioned are vaguely familiar to me. There seems to be a family of manticores there, and there are about eleven of them. Seven of the adult manticores have the strength of a Magus, and the four younger ones have the strength of a Quasi-Magus. "
Manticores?
Grimm was stunned for a moment. With a thought, the information stored in the A.I. Chip's database was extracted.
Manticores, flying creatures, were terrifying monsters that combined the characteristics of bats, lions, and scorpions. They had the head of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, four legs, and bat wings. They usually fought like a lion, and the bat wings on their back allowed them to glide at low altitudes and fly short distances. However, their most terrifying weapon of attack was the scorpion tail on their back.
The venom on the manticores' claws and teeth had fatal lethality, but the scorpion tail on their back also had a terrifying paralyzing effect. The antidotes concocted by Magi could be used to resist the venom, but they were completely useless against the paralyzing effect.
Thus, once a Magus was surrounded by the manticores, it was very likely that they would be paralyzed, and would not even have the chance to resist before they were torn to pieces.
However, the poison and paralyzing effects of the manticores were ineffective against the magic puppets, which was a great piece of good news!
When Grimm slowly shared some of the information he knew about the manticores, the forest demon Ava's face revealed a look of envy.
The reason why human Magi were so powerful could be clearly seen from this.
The forest demon Ava's understanding of the manticores relied on bloody battles. Any direct experience could only be obtained after paying a painful price. Human Magi, on the other hand, relied on the knowledge passed down from generation to generation. As long as she mentioned a name, they would be able to quickly dig out useful information from the knowledge system.
Even if they had not yet come into contact with the manticores, they would be able to formulate a response plan in advance and prepare sufficient means. With this kind of preparation, as long as there were not too many accidents, it was very easy for them to gain the upper hand in contact with the monsters.
In many cases, the quantity and quality of the monsters were far higher than that of human Magi, but they could only become hunting targets at will. Perhaps this was the main reason!
Grimm was not in the mood to slowly understand the feelings of the forest demon Ava at this moment. Instead, he could not help but ask about the terrain near the manticores' lair. After listening to Ava's answer, he was already 70-80% sure that it was the entrance to the underground volcano he was looking for.
However, this was a serious matter, and as for whether it was the entrance or not, he would need to personally go there to determine.
After everything was discussed, Grimm let Gargamel remove the poison from Sabrina's body and woke her up from her coma. In order to avoid exposing the relationship between the two sides, the forest demon Ava avoided in advance, while Gargamel stood behind Grimm meekly.
When she 'woke up', the two sides had already shaken hands and made peace, and the monster was nowhere to be found. Although Sabrina knew that there must be something fishy going on, she could only bury it deep in her heart and did not dare to ask anything.
Matters between Magi were not something that a Prospective Magus like her could participate in!
The more she knew, the greater the danger, so Sabrina wisely chose to remain silent.
… …
Near dawn, the three of them returned to the camp without a hitch.
Compared to Grimm who was unscathed, Gargamel and Sabrina looked quite haggard, and even had to pull up their hoods to cover the burn marks on their faces.
Seeing that they had returned safely, the rest of the people were quite happy. Only the Potioneering Apprentice called Anthony had a trace of surprise in his eyes that could not be concealed.
He was a disciple of Wizard Gargamel, and obviously knew part of his teacher's plan in advance. Now that he saw the three of them return together, he was naturally surprised and looked a little flustered.
However, Grimm was too lazy to care about such insignificant people, and naturally left everything to Gargamel to settle.
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